Coben's thrillers in recent years fall into a narrow pattern: Nice guy discovers that a loved one who has been presumed dead for some years may still be alive. This time around, our nice guy is New Jersey prosecutor Paul Copeland, and the loved one is his sister, believed to have been murdered at summer camp twenty years ago. Four teens disappeared that night, and though only two bodies were found, the other two -- Camille Copeland was one of them -- were assumed to have killed as well. But now the body of the other disappeared teen has turned up, freshly murdered, and if he's actually been alive all this time, then Paul has to wonder if Camille is still alive.
The Woods is a perfectly serviceable thriller, but this is the fourth or fifth time that Coben has gone to this same general plot, and the law of diminishing returns is beginning to set in; the fewer of his previous novels you've read, the more you'll probably enjoy this one. He's a talented writer, but it really is time for Coben to come up with a new story.
No comments:
Post a Comment